On Tuesday, Allied Arts of Greater Chattanooga launched Imagine, an education initiative aiming to expose every Hamilton County public elementary student to the arts through activities presented by local organizations. This week, 3,600 second grade students from 47 elementary schools are participating in the inaugural event—the Chattanooga Ballet's performance of The Nutcracker.
Imagine is an effort to foster regular experiences with the arts for every public school student no matter the school, explains Rodney Van Valkenburg, Director of Communications and Arts Education at Allied Arts. "Imagine will create a new generation of children and their parents who have had consistent art experience," he said.
Imagine is the product of a strategic planning process for Allied Arts' educational programs. As part of the planning process, the organization surveyed experiences in local schools and found that art activities varied significantly from school to school despite proximity, location and demographics.
"The question we asked during our arts education strategic planning process was whether a student’s exposure to the arts should be based on the luck of where they go to school or by design," Allied Arts President Dan Bowers said in a press release. "With our new Imagine initiative, Allied Arts is taking a strong stand that exposure should be by design and that it should be for every elementary school student in Hamilton County."
The initiative will be fully operational in five years, and Allied Arts is in the process of garnering long-term corporate support to fund the program, which will include providing tickets, transportation and teacher preparation materials.
Van Valkenburg said planners are looking to collaborate with the Chattanooga Symphony and Orchestra, the Hunter Museum of American Art and other existing programs to help the initiative grow. Like The Nutcracker, which will become an annual event for all second grade students, additional experiences with field studies and support materials will be phased into the initiative and incorporated into classroom curriculum by grade level.
Taking full advantage of Imagine and the inaugural event, Charlene Cook, a music teacher at McBrien Elementary School, invited members of the Chattanooga Ballet to visit her school and prepare students for the performance of The Nutcracker as well as introduce the art of ballet.
"There is a great interest in Hamilton County Schools for arts education," Van Valkenburg said, and the initiative has received great support from the Hamilton County Department of Education as well.
Aaron Collier
Cat Collier on Dec. 11, 2009
I'm wondering, what if any are the specific volunteer opportunities associated with Imagine? The Allied Arts is going to need the public to help with the amazing initiative!
Rodneyvanv on Dec. 18, 2009
Each event that will be part of the Imagine! initiative will need volunteers. There will also be a need for volunteers to help develop the education materials. Call Allied Arts 756-2787 or email: rodneyvv@alliedartschattanooga.org to volunteer. Thanks for inquiring!